Elections 2015: Make Love, Not Civil Strife.

Day 456*: If this election has a theme, it is that nobody is a loser.  Several CCM cadres have implied they were treated unfairly having lost their constituencies, which is delightful because usually only opposition plays the 'unfair treatment' card. Opposition in Zanzibar declared itself the winners of the election well ahead of results being announced and UKAWA has stated bluntly that it will not accept the outcomes of this elections if their Presidential candidate loses. 

After ZEC declared the elections null and void in Zanzibar today, things got interesting. The primary concern of course was: what does this mean for the Mainland elections? The short answer was provided by Judge Lubuva fairly quickly: nothing. He read through a list of about 5 or six reasons why this was the case, then plunged right back into the duty of reading out the election results received so far. 

Here's a delicious complication: CUF is unhappy with what the ZEC decision which they claim was made by Jecha without the consent of his fellow Commissioners. While on the Mainland, UKAWA would like the Mainland elections to be declared null and void by NEC. CUF on the mainland is a part of UKAWA but on the isles is standing on its own with Chadema (I guess) being the UKAWA flagbearer there. So... major opposition in the Isles needs the opposite of what major opposition needs on the mainland even though they are, um, allies? 

And people say politics are boring. 

Why isn't there considerably more conflict happening, all things considered? Well, the message from all the leaders irrespective of party (yes, even Lowassa and I admit surprise) has been the same: chill. They seem to be directing their advice specifically to the volatile youth. But that pretty much sums up the general feeling that it is not worth disrupting the peace over this. We actually use the word 'love' non-ironically in our nationalistic rhetoric. Also, there's a lot of security out there and nobody has time for remand :)

*feels like.